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SANNYASA DHARMA
The sādhu is not allowed to keep a plate, cup, saucer or any other kind of utensil with him ; for he will then be worried over its protection, replacement, and the like. Besides this if he carries it with him to obtain food he will be lowering himself thereby. He should only eat from his hand. If he eats out of a plate given to him at the time by the householder, there will be the necessity of washing and cleaning it to disturb his mind. Everywhore a plate might not also be bad. Those who keep a pot with them are cons. tantly agitated by the desire for food. The saint's mind is also apt to dwell on a comparison of the merits of the different vessels possessed by him, especially if a former one was often filled and the present one is not. In such circumstances the nonobtainment of food will have a demoralising effect. The true saint is not a beggar under any circumstances; he was perhaps a millionaire in his former days, or a prince himself, when he rejoiced in feeding those exclusively engaged in the realisation of the noblest of ideals. What he did then for saints it is now his turn to receive from those who are still involved in the householder's life. The latter, too, do not look upon the giving of food to a true saint as a burden in any sense. Charity is recommended in all religions, for it enlarge3 the human heart. But this is not charity alone ; it is a great deal more than that. The saint is actually the ideal for the householder, after whom he aspires to mould his own life some day. Every householder, thus, regards it as
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